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We're looking for new explorers to add to our Hall of Fame.

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Visitors to our site have sent us these nominations
for the Explorers' Hall of Fame
To read more comments in support of some of these explorers, click here.
Nominees are listed in alphabetical order.

  • Alcock and Brown British aviators
  • Vasco Nunez de Balboa (1475-1519) Discovered eastern Pacific Ocean.
  • Dr. Robert Ballard (born 19??) Ocean explorer who discovered the wrecks of the Titanic and the Bismarck and founded the JASON Project.
  • Ann Bancroft (1956- ) First woman to go to both North and South Pole.
  • Ibn Battuta (1304-1377) the Arab equivalent of Marco Polo; wrote about his travels through Africa and Asia
  • Vitus Bering (1681-1741) Explored Siberia and Alaska.
  • Hiram Bingham (1875-1956) Explored South America, discovered Machu Picchu.
  • Sir Richard Burton (1821-1890) Explored Africa, Middle East; searched for Nile source.

  • Alva Nunez, Cabeza de Vaca (1490?-1557?) Spanish explorer who made an eight-year journey from Florida through Arizona, which led to the Spanish Conquest of America. He was the first European to write a detailed description of America.
  • Pedro Alvares Cabral (c1467-c1520) Discovered Brazil.
  • Jacques Cartier (1491-1557) Explored Canada, discovered St. Lawrence River.
  • Cheng Ho (1371-1435) Chinese explorer of South Pacific, Indian Ocean, and Africa.
  • Francisco de Coronado (1510?-1554) Explored Mexico and southwestern US, looking for riches.
  • Juan de la Cosa (1460?-1510), Spanish navigator and mapmaker who accompanied Columbus on his first two voyages to America in 1492-93; made first world map that included North America.
  • Jacques Cousteau (1910-1997 ) French ocean explorer and pioneer in underwater research.

  • John Davis Explored Canadian Arctic in late 16th century
  • Bartholomew Dias (1450?-1500) Explored African coast, discovered Cape of Good Hope at southern tip of Africa.

  • Juan Sebastián de Elcano (1476?-1526) After the death of Magellan and other leaders in South Pacific, led Magellan's expedition back to Spain.
  • Erik the Red (950?-1003?) Explored Greenland and led a group of settlers from Iceland to Greenland.

  • A. P. Fedchenko (???) Russian explorer of central Asia, Russian mountains in mid-1800s.
  • John Franklin (1786-1847) Arctic explorer whose entire expedition of 129 men died searching the Canadian Arctic for the Northwest Passage to Asia.
  • Sir Martin Frobisher (1535?-1594) English mariner who made three expeditions to search for the Northwest Passage to Asia (1576, 1577, 1578).
  • Sir Vivian Fuchs (1908-1999) Made first successful overland crossing of Antarctica with Sir Edmund Hillary (1955-58).

  • Yury Gagarin (1934-1968) Russian astronaut who was the first man to go into space.

  • Richard Halliburton (1900-39) U.S. writer, lecturer, and traveler; lost in attempt to sail a Chinese junk across Pacific Ocean.
  • Prince Henry the Navigator
  • Thor Heyerdahl (born 1914) Norwegian scientist who made several ocean voyages to demonstrate how ancient peoples may have migrated from one part of the world to another
  • Sir Edmund Hillary (1919- ) first to reach top of Mt. Everest in 1953; made first successful overland crossing of Antarctica with Sir Vivian Fuchs (1955-58).
  • Alexander von Humboldt (1769 - 1859) One of the most famous scientists of the early nineteenth century, a geographer, explorer and astronomer.

  • Erling Kagge (???) member of first expedition to ski to the North Pole in 1990.

  • Juan Ponce de Leon (1473-1521) Spanish explorer who discovered Florida in 1513 and tried to set up the first colony there in 1521; famous for his legendary search for the "Fountain of Youth."

  • Sir Douglas Mawson (1882-1958) Australian geologist who led expedition to explore coastline of Antarctica.
  • Cristovao de Mendonca May have found Australia a couple hundred years before Vasco da Gama discovered its west coast.
  • Reinhold Messner (born 1944) Mountain climber; in 1978, climbed Everest without oxygen, and in 1980, climbed Everest solo; has climbed all 14 mountains greater than 8000m.
  • John Muir (1838-1914) Naturalist who walked all over the west coast of the USA, from California to Alaska; a founder of the Sierra Club.

  • Fritjof Nansen (1861-1930) Norwegian Arctic explorer who led unsuccessful expedition to North Pole in 1890s.
  • Børge Ousland First man in history to reach the North Pole and to cross Antarctica without supplies
  • Nathaniel Brown Palmer (1799&endash;1877) American sea captain and antarctic explorer. Discovered Antarctica in 1820 while sailing aboard a 45-foot wooden boat, the Hero. For many years the entire continent was called "Palmer Land" and some globes still show this today.
  • Francisco Pizarro (1475-1541) Spanish conqueror of the Inca empire in South America and founder of the city of Lima, Peru.
  • John Wesley Powell (1834-1902) Led first expedition to explore the canyons of the Colorado River.

  • Pierre Esprit Radisson (1632?-1710) French explorer who was in the first group of Europeans to go to Minnesota.
  • Sir Walter Raleigh (1552-1618) English adventurer who looked for gold in South America and tried to establish a colony in what is now North Carolina
  • James Ross (1800-1862) early explorer of Antarctica; discovered the Ross Ice Shelf.

  • Gene Savoy (1927-) Has explored South America in search of lost cities of the Incas and pre-Inca civilizations.
  • Robert Falcon Scott (1868-1912) Led unsuccessful British expedition to South Pole.
  • Ernest Shackleton (1874-1922) Explored Antarctica; made heroic journey to get help for crew of his ice-bound ship.
  • Hernando deSoto (1500?-1542) Explored Central America, Florida and southern US looking for gold.
  • Sir Henry Morton Stanley (1841- 1904). First European to explore the Congo River from Central Africa to the Atlantic Ocean.

  • David Thompson (1770-1857) Explorer, fur trader, and mapper of the Canadian Rockies.

  • John Young (born 1930-) First man to fly into space 6 times, only man to liftoff 7 times (counting his lunar liftoff), moonwalker, first Space Shuttle commander, oldest current astronaut.
Updated 18 Feb 2001

 

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